Clothesline shield



5, 1942. w. e. FAULKNER 2,282,216

CLOTHESLINE SHIELD Filed Jan. 15, 1941 BY W Aime/w y Patented May 5, 1942 CLOTHESLINE SHIELD William G. Faulkner, Kirkland Lake, Ontario, Canada Application January 15, 1941, Serial No. 374,562 In Canada January 25, 1940 5 Claims.

This invention relates to clothes lines and more particularly to a clothes line shield, it being one object of the invention to provide a shield including a strip adapted to be applied to the line in straddling relation thereto where it will prevent clothes from being soiled by direct contact with the clothes line and also prevented from freezing to the line and becoming torn when detached from the line.

Another object of the invention is to provide a shield wherein the line engaging strip or tape is wound upon a spindle within a housing where it will be protected from dust and dirt until used and also prevented from being damaged by rain or snow.

Another object of the invention is to provide a housing which may be easily applied to a clothes line of the endless type where it is suspended from the upper flight of the line and anchored to a pulley about which the line passes.

It will thus be seen that the housing will be suspended from the upper flight in position for feeding of the shielding strip to the lower flight of the line and the housing prevented from shifting along the clothes line out of its proper position close to the pulley.

Another object of the invention is to provide the housing with a tongue or neck extending from its outlet and so formed that it will straddle the lower flight of the clothes line and not only hold the housing in proper position relative to the lower flight but also cause the shielding strip to be folded and delivered onto the lower flight in straddling relation thereto as it is drawn from the housing.

Another object of the invention is to provide a device of this character which may be marketed as an accessory for a clothes line and applied to lines already in use.

In the accompanying drawing:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation showing the improved shield applied to an endless clothes line.

Fig. 2 is a view taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the shield.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view on the line 44 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional view on the line 5-5 of Fi 4.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged view on the line 66 of Fig. 4.

This improved clothes line shield has been shown as applied to an endless clothes line I trained about two pulleys, one of which is shown in Figs. 1 and 2 and indicated by the numeral 2 This pulley is mounted on the usual hook 3 carried by a post or other support 4. While the shield has been shown applied to an endless clothes line, it is to be understood that it is not limited to this type of line.

The housing 5 of the shield is formed of metal or other suitable material and while it has been shown of circular outline, it is to be understood that it may be of any shape desired. The open side of the housing is normally closed by a door or movable wall 6 which is hinged as shown at 1, in order that the door may be swung from closed position to open position and thus allow a roll of tape 8 to be set in place upon the spindle 9 carried by the door and the door then closed and secured by the spring latch ID. This latch consists of a short strip of spring metal secured at one end by rivets and extends across the front of the peripheral wall of the housing with its free end projecting therefrom and bent. to form a door-engaging bill for overlapping the door when the door is closed. A tongue or neck l2 extends forwardly from the bottom of the housing about an outlet opening formed in the peripheral wall, and by referring to Fig. 6, it will be seen that the tongue'is of inverted U-shape so that it may straddle the lower flight of the clothes line. Therefore, the tongue will be held in operative engagement with the clothes line and as the tape or strip 8 is drawn out of the housing it will be folded longitudinally and rest upon the line in straddling relation thereto. By so applying the tape or strip to the line it will serve very effectively to cover the line in shieldingv relation thereto and articles l3 may be secured to the line by pins l4 without having direct contact with the line. Thus the clothes or other articles hung on the line will be kept free from dust or other dirt which may have collected on the line and also prevented from freezing to the line and becoming torn as they are removed therefrom. The tape or strip 8 may be formed of thin material such as waxed paper and discarded after being once used, or it may be of tougher material, such as fabric, and rewound into the housing after be- I ing used. In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the tape will be of paper and discarded after use, a new roll of tape being applied to the spindle when needed.

The housing is to be suspended over the lower flight of the line I and, in order to do so, there has been provided a hook l5 which has one end pivoted in a bearing bracket I6 carried by the housing and its other end formed with a bill H for engaging over the upper flight of the line. The hook will thus support the housing in upright position with the tongue I2 straddling the lower flight of the line.

An anchoring clip I8 is pivotally connected with the rear portion of the peripheral wall of the housing by a bearing bracket l9 and this clip is of U-shape formation and has free end portions of its arms bent to form hooks or bills 20 for engaging about the upper arm 2| of the pulley guard or bracket 22. This is clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 2, and referring particularly to Fig. 2, it will be seen that when the hooks 20 are engaged with side portions of the arm 2i, the housing will be anchored and prevented from shifting along the clothes line out of proper position. The provision of the hook 'I5 and clip I8 permits the device to be easily applied to a clothes line and its pulley and also permits it to be easily removed and transferred to another line.

Having thus describedthe invention, What is claimed is:

1. An attachment for clothes lines comprising a roll of flexible material held on a reel and arranged so that the flexible material Will rest upon and cover a clothes line cable when-same is operated, and a container to hold said reel, the container being adapted tobe suspended from the upper flight of a double clothes line immediately above the lower flight of the clothes line and detachably anchored to a pulley about which the line passes to prevent shifting of the container longitudinally of the clothes line.

2. An attachment for clothes lines, as described, comprising a roll of flexible material, a container for said roll, means carried by said container 'for suspending the container over a clothes line, and a hook carried by the container for detachably engaging a portion of a clothes line pulley and preventing movement of the container along the clothes line.

3. A clothes line shield comprising a housing, a roll of tape rotatably mounted in said housing, said housing having an outlet, a tongue extending from the housing about the outlet for directing the tape into covering engagement with the lower flight of a double clothes line, a hook carried by said housing for engaging the upper flight of the clothes line and supporting the housing over the lower flight of the clothes line, and means carried by the housing and extending rearwardly therefrom for detachably engaging a pulley for preventing the housing from shifting longitudinally of the clothes line.

4. A clothes line shield comprising a housing, a roll of tape rotatably mounted in said housing, said housing having an outlet, a guide extending from the housing about the outlet for directing the tape into covering engagement with the lower flight of a double clothes line, means carried by said housing for engaging the upper flight of a clothes lineand supporting the housing over the lower flight of the clothes line, and a clip carried by the housing at the rear thereof and having arms terminating in hooks for engaging a portion of a pulley guard and holding the housing against shifting along the line.

5. A clothes line shield comprising a housing open at one side, a door movable into and out of closing relation to the open side of the housing, a spindle carried by said door and projecting inwardly therefrom into the housing when the door is closed, a roll of tape rotatably mounted about the spindle, said housing having an outlet at its bottom, a guide extending from the housing at the outlet for directing the tape into covering engagement with a clothes line as the tape is drawn outwardly through the outlet, and means for supporting the housing in operative relation to a line.

WILLIAM G. FAULKNER. 

